Celebrating 100 years of caring for babies and families

Wodonga is joining the rest of Victoria in celebrating 100 years of Maternal and Child Health Nursing across the state.

In Wodonga, families had no Infant Welfare Centre of their own until 1936, when the first centre opened (location unknown).

Then in 1938, using land granted by the Shire Council and funds raised by the community, a new Infant Welfare Centre and CWA Rest Rooms were built on High St, where Wodonga Post Office currently stands.

In following years, it moved to Stanley St then Trudewind St, until spreading across the six different sites that serve Wodonga today.

Today, Wodonga Council has nine dedicated Maternal and Child Health nurses who, like all those in Victoria, are registered nurses and midwives and hold tertiary qualifications in Maternal and Child Health.

“Our fabulous Maternal and Child Health nurses provide a range of services and information for our families on everything from child health and development and parenting, to infant nutrition, immunisation and child safety,” Wodonga Mayor Cr Anna Speedie said.

“In this centenary year I would like to acknowledge and thank all those nurses who have cared for Wodonga’s babies and families over the years.”

One of Wodonga’s longest serving Maternal and Child Health Nurses was Lyn Korpar (now retired) who used to travel extensively, getting to know all the families and all the back roads from Kiewa to Wodonga.

“I used to visit all the newborn babies in farms, and rural houses – I really lived out of the back of a car,” Lyn said, who also remembers carrying portable scales and a box of children’s health cards with her.

A nurse who worked with Lyn and who is still part of Wodonga’s Maternal and Child Health team, Juliette Harrison, said that nursing the babies of women she’d previously cared for as babies was one of her favourite parts of the job.

In a lovely story of caring across the generations, Juliette was cared for herself as a baby by Wodonga nursing legend Sister Willett.